Cellular Devices, Systems and Methods for Logistics Support

ABSTRACT

Autonomous cellular transceivers for data logging, tracking and managing shipments, the devices having auto-provisioning capability. To auto-provision itself, the cellular device must be associated in a digital record with a particular shipment or object based on physical attachment or proximity—without manual assistance. Subsequent logging, tracking and managing records in a database or databases accessible to one or more users must be updated to reflect that assignment. Auto-provisioning is achieved by associating a cellular identification number of the autonomous cellular device with a shipment or object having a unique shipping identification number or an inventory identification number. Once the identifiers are coupled, the system creates a “shipment profile” of relevant data collected by a sensor or sensors on the cellular device while en route. The system will monitor, log, and report timepoint, waypoint, condition of the goods (as evidenced or extrapolated from sensor data) while in transit. Upon delivery, when polled, or at intervals, the system may publish a link to the data and/or a summary of the shipment status and condition, and push that link onto smart devices held by decision makers and agents in the logistics management tree. In a first instance, termed here “contextual auto-provisioning”, capture of location, direction of motion, and time of departure, and so forth, with correlation to known delivery routes, schedules, sounds, and other granular data, is used for autonomous data provisioning. Other means for auto-provisioning include “RFID piggyback means” and “cellular ranked ping means”. In a preferred application in cold chain monitoring, once self-assignment is made, the cellular device will log shipment temperature during transit and the cellular device or system will interrogate cellular networks for location and time. Reporting is by cellular radio, and can include temperature, location by cellular triangulation, projected arrival time, and any alarm notifications, for example. Reports can be directed to smart phones, to mobile clients more generally, and to cloud-hosted administrative services. Uses in logistics also include monitoring shipments for exposure to volatiles, humidity, or shock outside of accepted limits, or any diversion, delivery error, or delay of goods, particularly as applied to perishable goods such as foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals, or to manage inventory of items such as bulk materials, gas cylinders, blood bags, and so forth.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Appl. No. 62/512,174 filed May 29, 2017 and to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Appl. No. 62/528,071 filed Jul. 1, 2017, which are hereinincorporated in full by reference for all purposes.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Not Applicable.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to systems, devices and methods formonitoring and managing shipments of goods, in which cellulartransceivers collect data and report status, condition, and tracking ofshipments of goods; and a cellular network host generates local andremote alarms if there are deviations.

BACKGROUND

“Data Provisioning” is a process of loading data onto a digital platformfrom other platform(s) so that it can be accessed and manipulated in anew context provided by the new platform.

Here this approach is extended so that provisioning is achieved byassigning a cellular identification number of a cellular device or“cellular tag” to a particular shipment or object having a shippingidentification number or an inventory identification number in adatabase. The cellular device is physically associated with the shipmentor object, generally by a process of attachment, and the challenge is toeliminate the need for a human operator to join the tag to the database.

Conventionally, a database may be “translated” so as to load previouslydefined “fields” in a new database, but the process requires strict dataformatting and is typically a batch process that is run once orperiodically. The capacity of a system to do data provisioning “on thefly” in a complex business environment is much less familiar. Errors andanomalies in data provisioning can lead to losses in reputation,expensive delays, and damaged or lost goods, for example. Systemengineers typically spend more time on data provisioning and preparationof data than on modeling, analyzing and improving work flows.

In the context of the shipping business, data provisioning generallyinvolves a manual process in which a shipping agent scans a numericalidentifier embedded in a barcode or an RFID chip and associates thenumerical identifier with a particular shipment identifier and manifestin the carrier's database. The initial customer's database can containorigin, destination, identification of the goods, timelines, insurance,and so forth. The task of the carrier is to load this information into adatabase having shipping routes, truck numbers, drivers, rail lines,airport hubs, connecting flights, conveyer belts, zip codes, and soforth. Machine logic is capable of sorting the shipments and determininga best way of achieving the required delivery date using availableshipping resources, but is not capable of coupling a numericalidentifier assigned by a customer for tracking a particular shipmentwith a shipment identifier assigned by the shipping agent.

Of course the same numerical identifier (ID) may be used for bothdatabases, but until the ID is consolidated in those databases, there isno way organize the process of delivery because the shipment itself, abox, a pallet, a truckload, whatever it is, is not physically mapped inthe carrier's business inventory. Typically, the shipment information ismanually received and entered by a shipping agent, either by accessingthe customer's data on line or by entering it from annotations on anorder chit.

The process of data provisioning generally involves two separate steps,one a process of extracting needed information from the customer, suchas destination. The second part is a set of rules or functions that loadthe data into the carrier's system of databases and processes, and thesystem coordinates use of the carrier's resources according to a stricttimeline. Creating, preparing, and enabling a network to provide data tocustomers interested in tracking the shipment and to shippers needful ofefficiency requires that data must be cross-loaded to a new platformbefore it can be accessed by a front-end tool designed to receive andanswer system queries. Generally, the initial step is a manual process,as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 9,552,565 to UPS®, in which physicallyscanning a barcode or an RFID label is used to bring shipments into thesystem and to match them with destinations and routing. This ID will bescanned again at various checkpoints in the carrier's logistic networkand the shipment redirected as needed.

The literature teaches, “One or more machine readable codes may beplaced on the exterior of the shipping container, payload containerswithin the shipping container, and/or articles in the payloadcontainers. When read on receipt, these codes may direct a computingdevice at the receiving location to a database which may contain: (1) alist of the products in the shipment, and/or (2) instructions on puttingthe contents of the shipment into a particular freezer or a particularrefrigerator, or instructions on putting a portion of the contents intoone freezer or refrigerator and for putting other portions of thecontents into a different freezer or refrigerator. The instructions mayalso prompt the user to provide information that allows the system toconfirm that the contents were received in good condition, or to addressmissing or damaged contents.” This description demonstrates that thereis a manual step that cannot be automated because the delivery againrequires data provisioning the customer's database before shipment canbe matched with the customer's inventory and accepted by a receivingagent. Thus we see data provisioning issues at both ends of the supplychain.

Adding to this complicated problem are issues associated with specialhandling, such as for perishable goods. A monitoring system is needed toreport whether environmental conditions were acceptable at all timesduring transit in the carrier's logistics network between checkpoints.Without monitoring, the customer cannot know whether biologicalsolutions were brought to a near boil in Blythe on the way to Salt LakeCity from San Francisco, for example. Similarly, foodstuffs may bedamaged without the customer's knowledge. In some instances, problems inshipping may result in delivery of goods that are no longer fit for usebecause of unacceptable environmental exposures during transit. Ifmistreated during shipping, shipments may be damaged and may even bedangerous to the end user. These concerns cannot be resolved withoutsubstantial waste of transportation, labor, financial, and otherresources of the carrier and the customer, particularly given the lackof automated support available for monitoring and assessingenvironmental conditions during transit.

Therefore, a need exists in the art for a method and system formonitoring shipments of sensitive goods such as in a cold chain. Themethod and system must provide a way of verifying whether or not certainenvironmental conditions are maintained throughout the shipping processfor a product and preferably can automate the process of filing a claimif the goods are delivered without adequate verification of theirhandling conditions. Similar issues are found in inventory management.

More generally, there is a need for improved methods and systems ofprovisioning, tracking and receiving packages requiring specialhandling, for sharing data and handling instructions for these packages,and for reducing the potential for improper handling of the packages.

Today the process of accessing data is very archaic and requires manualaccess to construct and retrieve a shipping profile. A need exists forautonomous devices and networked systems to accurately and automaticallyprovide a real time shipment profile on the cloud, accessible to usersvia shipment-specific hyperlinks, with little to no risk of human error,and for the same cost as a USB data/temperature logger. These and otherdata provisioning issues are addressed by the systems and methods of theinvention.

SUMMARY

Management of delivery quality assurance and improved “hands free”efficiency is achieved with autonomous devices and systems engineered toauto-provision shipping data. Cellular tracking devices are deployed asdata loggers. The tracking devices are small, portable and disposableand are intended to be attached to a shipment. Each tracking deviceincludes a cellular transceiver and a cellular identifier (CID), andwill ping cellular towers along the route taken by the shipment. Datafrom the tracking devices is shared with a system host and with systemclients in order to assess shipment status. A history of environmentalconditions that the shipment is exposed to may be constructed from thedata anytime and anywhere.

On activation, the tracking device associates itself with a shipmentline item in a carrier's database, merging the data records of thecustomer and the carrier with the CID of the cellular device in aprocess termed “auto-provisioning”. The tracking device rides with ashipment and are used to track, monitor and wirelessly report status andenvironmental conditions while in transit and upon delivery, bothlocally and remotely.

Autonomous data provisioning refers to the capacity of the trackingdevice to capture critical data needed to identify an intendeddestination and customer data; including any special handling orders.For example, in “contextual auto-provisioning”, capture of location,direction of motion, time, and context, with correlation to knowndelivery routes and schedules, may be used to identify the shipment andthe expected destination. This is confirmed by monitoring en route oragain at the delivery location, and any anomalies are reported forresolution in real time. In “piggyback auto-provisioning”, the cellulardevice includes an RFID reader, and can provision itself by reading theRFID tag label and then consulting an existing database to collect theneeded destination, customer data, and special handling orders. In“ranked ping auto-provisioning” the system identifies a cellular ping ofa driver or agent and interprets the driver or agent's behavior withrespect to a shipment in order to associate that shipment with thedevice's CID.

Thus the devices, systems and methods of the invention are distinguishedby the capacity to eliminate manual means for associating a data loggerwith a particular package or shipment. The system also differentiatesitself by allowing subscribers to access shipping profiles generated bythe tracking device on their preferred smart device and WAN or LANthrough hyperlinks, individually, in groups, or according to usercriteria (such as shipments in alarm, shipments to Canada, shipments ofO-Neg blood, etc.). Smart reports are formatted according to subscriberneeds. Also, the device itself offers local alarm capability, and forexample can activate an audible alarm when a particular smart deviceapproaches, when a truck is opened at a delivery point, or when acustomer is detected, and can prepare and distribute automated deliveryreports (or prepare insurance claims) for the appropriate managementgroups at a destination or in transit, all without human initiative orintervention.

In a first example, a device is actuated on a loading dock and isphysically attached to a shipment on a pallet. The device contacts asystem administrative host. Based on current location, scheduleddepartures, a truck manifest may be queried to identify a list ofpossible shipment identifiers SIDs. Movement of the truck at adesignated time and in a designated direction confirms that the truck iscarrying a particular shipment to which the particular device isattached. The shipment identifier is associated with the CID of thedevice so that data and reports collected by the device are logged aspart of the history of that particular shipment. Data transmission overa cellular network eliminates the need for manual download from a datalogger. The SID is now associated with a particular CID of a cellulardevice that rides on board with the shipment, periodically calls home,and automates typical shipping management tasks. Essentially, theinvention provides a device and system for cellular shipment monitoringand management at the cost of a USB data logger, an advance in the art.

The physical tracking device itself is also configured to display statusunder control of a cloud host. The device is a messaging board and themessage may be as simple as an LED or a beeper, or even a voicesynthesizer. A simple go-no-go status indicator may be displayed onarrival at a destination or whenever a human body is detected. Thestatus indicator will exhibit an alarm state if the shipment has beenoutside of acceptable temperature, for example, or if the shipment hasbeen diverted from an accepted route for any period of time. Statusindicators may be visual or audible and may be ported directly to localcellular smart devices operated by a receiving agent. The receivingagent can query the administrative host to see the data log, but thestatus indicator is displayed so that anyone receiving the shipment isalerted to a problem.

Remote alarm broadcast in real time is also envisaged, and has theadvantage that human proximity is not required, so that any condition ofthe shipment that is an out-of-bounds condition or is trending to anout-of-bounds condition can be flagged or even prevented by anintervention at the time the trend is detected by the on-boardsensor(s).

Because the devices are set up as cellular transceivers, they can bepinged (i.e., interrogated) directly by the receiving agent upon arrivalor will ping the receiving agent when arrival is imminent. Remote statusreporting includes location (most readily by cellular towertriangulation), and accurate projections of arrival time. Reports can bedirected to smart phones, to mobile devices more generally, and tocloud-hosted administrative services.

Data does not have to be manually downloaded from a device memory as istypical for conventional data loggers. Uses in commerce include anyspecial handling needs that require monitoring for exposure totemperature, moisture, or shock, outside of accepted limits, forexample, or any diversion or delay of goods. Applications are conceivedfor shipments of perishable goods including foodstuffs such as produceand meat, pharmaceuticals, blood products, live organisms, and vaccinesfor example, or anything that is spoilable or likely to quickly degradewhen held at sub-optimal conditions and may be monitored for qualityassurance during shipping.

Logged data is reported to a cloud host via a remote feed from thedevice and the information can be “attached” to the package so thatappropriate action is taken, such as the filing of a claim if the goodsbecome unacceptable for their intended use. This can occur in transit sothat the shipper has the opportunity to replace the goods, or onarrival, so that the customer's receiving agent can refuse the goods.Higher levels of automation increase efficiency.

The cloud service can also be used to signal to a customer that thegoods are about to be or have been delivered and even to uploadinformation about their precise location, so that the customer canquickly retrieve the shipment if it has been left in the sun or rain, orin an unsecure location. The cloud service may also push a deliveryalert directly to the customer so that deliveries to an incorrectaddress are prevented.

The devices may also include porting for Bluetooth low energy radiosensors, and slaved sensors may be dispersed in a shipment as a meshnetwork so as to monitor representative temperatures throughout ashipment volume. The devices may be monitored by a hub in a shippingcontainer, truck or rail car; the hub serving as a cellular platform tocommunicate to a remote server.

Updates to a logistics network are readily implemented because thedevices are self-contained and are generally single use.

The elements, features, steps, and advantages of the invention will bemore readily understood upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which presently preferred embodiments of the invention areillustrated by way of example.

It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are forillustration and description only and are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the invention. The various elements, features, steps,and combinations thereof that characterize aspects of the invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming partof this disclosure. The invention does not necessarily reside in any oneof these aspects taken alone, but rather in the invention taken as awhole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present invention are more readily understood byconsidering the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 maps a cloud host, cell towers and other system components fortracking and monitoring a data logger attached to a shipment.

FIG. 2 is a plot of temperature vs time during a shipment, with oneexcursion outside an accepted range (defined by dashed lines labelledMIN and MAX). For reference, also shown are locations or waypoints A, B,C and D.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of a tracking process for shipment ofperishable goods.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views of two auto-provisioning schema forassociating shipment identifiers and cellular identifiers of thecellular data loggers.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cellular data logging device withcellular transceiver, start switch, status LED, and thermally isolatedapical aspect.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the device with triangular body and sensorisolation bridges.

FIG. 7A is an internal schematic of the electronics. FIG. 7B shows thegeneral shape of the PCB with bilateral sensor isolation bridges. Alsoshown is a sectional plane detailed in FIG. 7C through the body and theelectronics. An alternate section view through the PCB is shown in FIG.7D.

FIG. 8 is a schematic of the steps of a method for operating a cellulardata logging system so as to monitor environmental conditions, location,and to automate data provisioning and goods acceptance (or rejection) bya receiver's agent.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a use of the sensor isolation cutout toshelter a delicate speaker orifice from impacts and intrusions thatwould occur if the speaker were place on an exposed exterior surface ofthe cellular device. Unlike the embodiment of FIGS. 7C and 7D, here thebattery is mounted in a slot at the edge of the PCB, as can speedassembly and stabilize the battery/board interconnect.

FIG. 10A is a view of an apical aspect of a cellular device withtriangular body and sensor mounted at an apex of the body where it canbe thermally isolated from heat generated by the radio andmicroprocessor. Advantageously, this also provides for a protectedopening for the speaker.

FIG. 10B is a schematic of the speaker driver circuit.

FIG. 11 describes steps in a method in which the innovation includes afirst advance in automation by providing for auto-provisioning (APro)and a second advance that provides for automated reporting (ERep) anddisposition of certain deviations. Elements of machine learning andartificial intelligence are developed in this schematic.

In FIG. 12A, a sample run from Chicago to a destination in Seattle isshown as would be mapped on a screen of a smart device. The solid linesrepresent land routes, including an extended cross-country truck route;the dotted is air freight, representing a potential air/truckcombination route.

A temperature profile over the duration of the trip is shown in FIG.12B.

FIG. 13A is a graphical concept of a set of slave sensor probes as amesh network distributed through a shipment volume.

More detail of a slave probe is shown in FIG. 13B. A use for measuringhumidity is suggested in FIG. 13C.

FIG. 14 is an overview of a system and method for monitoring andmanaging shipments.

The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features orcomponents herein may be shown in somewhat schematic form and somedetails of conventional elements may not be shown in the interest ofclarity, explanation, and conciseness. The drawing figures are herebymade part of the specification, written description and teachingsdisclosed herein.

Glossary

Certain terms are used throughout the following description to refer toparticular features, steps or components, and are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation. As one skilled in the art willappreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature, step orcomponent by different names. Components, steps or features that differin name but not in structure, function or action are consideredequivalent and not distinguishable, and may be substituted hereinwithout departure from the invention. The following definitionssupplement those set forth elsewhere in this specification. Certainmeanings are defined here as intended by the inventors, i.e., they areintrinsic meanings. Other words and phrases used herein take theirmeaning as consistent with usage as would be apparent to one skilled inthe relevant arts. In case of conflict, the present specification,including definitions, will control.

“Shipping carriers” are persons or entities who/that transport productson behalf of customers. In most cases, a carrier's customer is either asender (or “consignor”) or a receiver (or “consignee”), or both. As theterms are used herein, a “sender” refers to the person or entity sendingthe product to a receiver via the carrier, and the “receiver” is theperson or entity receiving the product from the sender via the carrier.Such persons or entities may also be termed system “users”.

“Unique identifiers” are used to track shipments. These can includeshipping unique identifiers (SID) and cellular unique identifiers (CID).Also of interest in multilevel networks are Bluetooth Unique Identifiers(BID). All are generally a string of alphanumeric characters, and may berepresented by a bar code or an RFID chip, may be encoded in amicroprocessor, or assigned by a system host. A customer or otherinterested party with the SID can access tracking information byproviding the SID to a representative. The representative can referencethe computerized shipping records in a carrier's database to provide therequested status information. More commonly, carriers permit customersto directly access shipment tracking information through web-basedportal.

“Data Provisioning” is a process of loading data onto one platform fromanother platform so that it can be accessed and manipulated in a newcontext provided by the new platform. Databases can be “translated” soas to load data into defined fields in a new database, but the processrequires a very formal and rigid translation with no flexibility orintelligence and is typically a batch process that is run once orperiodically. In logistics, “auto-provisioning” is the acquisition of adata from one database for use in another without manual assistance.More particularly, auto-provisioning may be a process for assigning acellular unique identifier (CID) of a tracking device to a uniqueshipment of goods so that the CID and a shipment unique identifier SIDare coupled in at least one database. Physical attachment of thetracking device automatically “tags” the shipment with a cellular uniqueidentifier, an advance in the art.

“Data logger” is a term of art referring to a generally small devicethat accompanies a shipment and collects environmental data duringshipment. For example, a device is associated with a package andmonitors the temperature of a product in the package or an outsidetemperature to determine if the product may have been damaged because itwas not kept within a required temperature range during shipment.

The term “special handling” encompasses a variety of operations in whichparticular products (or a shipment of products) are identified andseparated from routine product shipments to be handled differently fromroutine product shipments in the shipping carrier's transportation andstorage system. Such special handling can include, for example,transporting sensitive, perishable, explosive, hazardous, or toxicproducts in a special way. Such handling can be mandated by applicablelaw or regulation for shipment of the product, can be necessary in orderto comply with a customer's request for handling the product, or can benecessary due to the carrier's internal policies or experiences withproducts of a particular nature. For example, the carrier can be askedby a customer or third party to verify that a refrigerated containerholding biological material is functioning at various points along thecontainer's shipping route.

A cellular network or mobile network is any communication network wherethe last link is cellular. The network is distributed over land areascalled cells, each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver,known as a cell site or base station. Cellular systems includespecialized addressing and encoding such as CDMA, FDMA, TDMA so thatindividual signals can be multiplexed and then isolated, wherebydistributed transceivers can select one cell and listen to it within thecoverage area of a single cell.

The term “coupled” is defined as meaning having a connection between anelement in one database and another element or elements in anotherdatabase. In the context of this invention, the meaning relatesparticularly to the coupling of an SID with an CID.

General connection terms including, but not limited to “connected,”“attached,” “conjoined,” “secured,” and “affixed” are not meant to belimiting, such that structures so “associated” may have more than oneway of being associated. “Digitally connected” indicates a connection inwhich digital data may be conveyed therethrough. “Electricallyconnected” indicates a connection in which units of electrical chargeare conveyed therethrough. “Wirelessly connected” indicates a connectionmade by radio waves.

Relative terms should be construed as such. For example, the term“front” is meant to be relative to the term “back,” the term “upper” ismeant to be relative to the term “lower,” the term “vertical” is meantto be relative to the term “horizontal,” the term “top” is meant to berelative to the term “bottom,” and the term “inside” is meant to berelative to the term “outside,” and so forth. Unless specifically statedotherwise, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and “fourth” are meantsolely for purposes of designation and not for order or for limitation.Reference to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or an “aspect,” meansthat a particular feature, structure, step, combination orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect isincluded in at least one realization of the present invention. Thus, theappearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment and may apply to multiple embodiments.Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics of theinvention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

“Adapted to” includes and encompasses the meanings of “capable of” andadditionally, “designed to”, as applies to those uses intended by thepatent. In contrast, a claim drafted with the limitation “capable of”also encompasses unintended uses and misuses of a functional elementbeyond those uses indicated in the disclosure. Aspex Eyewear v MarchonEyewear 672 F3d 1335, 1349 (Fed Circ 2012). “Configured to”, as usedhere, is taken to indicate is able to, is designed to, and is intendedto function in support of the inventive structures, and is thus morestringent than “enabled to”.

It should be noted that the terms “may,” “can,′” and “might” are used toindicate alternatives and optional features and only should be construedas a limitation if specifically included in the claims. The variouscomponents, features, steps, or embodiments thereof are all “preferred”whether or not specifically so indicated. Claims not including aspecific limitation should not be construed to include that limitation.For example, the term “a” or “an” as used in the claims does not excludea plurality.

“Conventional” refers to a term or method designating that which isknown and commonly understood in the technology to which this inventionrelates.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims that follow, the term “comprise” and variations thereof, such as,“comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusivesense—as in “including, but not limited to.”

The appended claims are not to be interpreted as includingmeans-plus-function limitations unless a given claim explicitly evokesthe means-plus-function clause of 35 USC § 112 para (f) by using thephrase “means for” followed by a verb in gerund form.

A “method” as disclosed herein refers to one or more steps or actionsfor achieving the described end. Unless a specific order of steps oractions is required for proper operation of the embodiment, the orderand/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As conventionally practiced, shipping workflows are not fully automated.In a typical process, a sender places a product to be shipped in acontainer or package, fills out and attaches an address label indicatingthe identity of the receiver and the receiver's address, and leaves thecontainer with the product in a designated place for pickup by thecarrier. The address label will likely include other relevant senderinformation and a shipment identifier (SID), either as a barcode or as aQR code. On pickup, a driver of a carrier vehicle uses a handheldwireless device to enter relevant data from the shipping label into atracking system so that the time and location of pick up by the carrieris recorded. The driver then loads the package in the vehicle, andtransports it to a hub for sorting and distribution. The package ismoved along a route designated for the package by the carrier's internalrouting and control systems, with logging at any major substations. Insome instances, the carrier supplies more than one resource to completethe delivery. These include aircraft, trains, drones, wheeled vehicles,and so forth. In the final leg of the route, a delivery vehicletransports the package to the receiver's location to complete delivery.The receiver can then open the container and check the product'scondition before accepting the shipment.

For purposes of routing, tracking, and billing for shipment, the carrierkeeps computerized records identifying the sender, the sender's shippingaccount to be charged for the product shipment, the sender's address,the receiver, the receiver's address for delivery, the level of serviceselected for shipping the product (i.e., overnight delivery, next-daydelivery, two-day delivery, etc.), the weight and dimensions of thecontainer and enclosed product which can be used for logistics planningand billing for the product shipment, special handling instructions forthe product, hazardous cargo indications, and any other relevantinformation.

As known in the art, some carriers provide the capability to track ashipped product in transit from the sender to the receiver. In additionto providing peace of mind to the sender and/or receiver as to thelocation and status of the product within the carrier's transportationand storage network at any given time, the tracking information can beused to estimate when the product will arrive at the receiver'slocation. The receiver can thus plan activities that are contingent uponreceipt of the product, such as the availability of machinery and laborfor handling the product, etc. In addition, tracking information permitsthe sender or receiver to verify that certain actions, such as shippingor delivery of the product, have in fact been taken. This can be usefulfor verifying compliance (or determining noncompliance) with a contractbetween the sender and receiver. Such tracking information can also beuseful to interested third parties such as insurers, guarantors, orbanks, who may have an interest in a product shipment.

Packages that require special handling may include a dedicated trackingdevice (also termed a “data logger”) that collects data on environmentalconditions during shipment. For example, a tracking device may beincluded in the package that monitors the temperature of an article inthe package (or a surface temperature) to determine if a controlledtemperature was not maintained. Typically, when a tracking device isincluded in the package, the tracking device is deactivated and its dataretrieved as part of the receiving process before accepting theshipment. If unsatisfactory, the recipient may have to file a claim withthe carrier.

Shipping systems of the invention are easily distinguished by the lackof manual data entry. As shown in FIG. 1, a cloud host 10 handlesfunctions such as pickup (illustrated here by a truck 3) and loading,addressing, routing, delivering and quality assurance. Cell towers 4 areused to track and monitor a data logger 2 attached to the shipment 1 inthe truck.

A representative cell network having three cells 5, each with a celltower, is shown, although routes may be longer or shorter. Fourwaypoints on a shipping route (dashed line) are shown: A, B, C, and D.Point of origin A is important for data provisioning because thelocation is associated with a sender/shipper, a billing address neededby the carrier, and instructions regarding special handling. Theshipper's instruction to pick up a package is associated with a shipmentnumber SID and a delivery address.

By placing a tracking device on the package at the point of origin andactivating it, a complete picture of the delivery instructions can beassembled. The tracking device is assigned a cellular identifier CID andcalls home when activated. In a first example of autoprovisioning,accelerometry data from the device's sensors detects movement of thetruck, and logic in the host system links the SID to the CID. From thispoint on, data received by cell from the device is associated with aparticular shipment 1 and its line item on a shipping manifest on boardtruck 3.

In a variant, the carrier's agent taps the tracking device three timesto activate it, so that the system can identify which package is beingpicked up and correlate it with the location of the radio dispatchedtruck parked at the sender's place of business. Review of shippingrequests coupled to the distinctive impact pattern allows the system tocouple the SID with the CID. Alternatively, the tracking device can beactuated with a start switch. Once actuated, the device will continue tofunction until it reaches the destination or runs out of power. Batteryreserve is sized for a multiday trip if needed, and location isestablished by pinging cell towers rather than more energy andcomputationally expensive GPS means. Data logging of one or moreenvironmental sensor parameters is commenced and all data is held instorage. The device may have some level of autonomous calculating powerand may intermittently transmit a report instead of raw data when linkedto the host system. The data logger is more likely the host system, anda shipping profile is assembled for access by interested parties and asproof of safe delivery.

At waypoint B, the general direction of the truck is assessed using amagnetometer on the device and the result correlated with an expectedroute. Alternatively, the tracking device can receive triangulation fromsurrounding cell towers and can store that data as part of a timelinehistory with the environmental data collected. If there are noanomalies, the device will go to rest mode.

At waypoint C, the device is awakened by a radio request from theaddressee for a status update. In response, the device can assemble areport with SID shipment number, current position, expected arrivaltime, and any sensor data history. Alternatively, if the device probeshave detected an out-of-range sensor condition, then the device caninitiate a call to the system host 10. Any alarm condition is alsocommunicated to the addressee. An alarm due to warming of a frozenshipment, for example, is detected and reported in real time, or evenproactively. This is an advance in the art and impacts efficiency andquality, closing vulnerabilities in our transportation industries.

The system can assign URLs to data reports and notifications and cantransmit them to users. The system can also push the links onto smartdevices of users in need of seeing them, such as to notify a receiver ofan impending delivery.

System host 10 includes an administrative engine, an interface forengaging multiple user databases and systems, and a network engine forhandling communications traffic. The carrier or host also maintains oneor more databases for the needed business records and for storing datauploaded by the tracking device. Truck 3 can include a cellular hub ofits own, or a wireless hub for long range radio communication, and canboost or relay signals from the tracking device. If desired, the truckhub can also have a precision GPS locator used to correlate the trackingdevice position and progress the truck is making on the delivery route.

Consumer device 11 is a cellular smart device, and can interfacedirectly with the tracking device 2, or with the host system 10. Data ispresented on a graphical interface keyed to the SID or the user account.User's may choose to receive heads up displays when a shipment is aboutto arrive and notification of any special handling required by theshipper. Users will also receive an alert if there is a deviation inrouting or handling. At waypoint D, the tracking device or the hostsystem sends information to smart device 11 that allows a receivingagent at workstation 12, employed by the addressee, to quickly documentthe shipment and decide whether to accept or not accept a shipment whenit arrives at receiving. The receiving agent can also be on the lookoutin real time for shipments that have been left outside or are beingdelivered to the wrong address.

In this way, significant chances are avoided for error due to manualentry mistakes. Efficiency is improved because the driver's role as aclerk is reduced and the tracking device auto-provisions itself with theneeded delivery address and routing information to complete thedelivery. The tracking device also interfaces using ubiquitous cellservice to a host system that handles any queries about the shipment.

The system also has value in addressing anomalies, where shipments havegone off track. If a shipment is being carried to a wrong address, thetracking device location report will not match the expected route,triggering an alert. If the delivery vehicle makes an unexpected stop,because of an accident or because the shipment is diverted, the systemwill trigger an alert so that help can be summoned. And if the truckbreaks down, the system can also calculate how long the shipment can beheld at the required temperature, for example, without power to thecooling system, providing supervisors with the information needed tointervene or to dispatch a replacement system immediately if help is notforthcoming.

FIG. 2 is a plot of temperature vs time during a shipment, with oneexcursion outside an accepted range (defined by dashed lines labelledMIN and MAX). For reference, also shown are locations or waypoints A, B,C and D as introduced in FIG. 1. At the initial waypoint A, the shipmentis assumed to be in compliance and the package temperature is within anaccepted range having a maximum (MAX) and a minimum (MIN) threshold forrejection. Warning thresholds may also be programmed. The trackingdevice monitors temperature and stores the data in a memory on board.Each temperature point also includes a location and a time. The trackingdevice in some instances may calculate and report any incipienttemperature deviations, and in other instances the host system willhandle calculations and data analysis. The temperature data from thetracking device is sent by cellular radio to the host system.

At waypoint B, about 20% of the way through the trip, temperature isreasonable stable, but at waypoint C, there is a sharp spike 20 ofoverheating, perhaps because a window was rolled down and the airconditioning turned off. This triggers an alarm at waypoint C and alsoirreversibly sets a device status indicator to an alarm status so thatit will be visibly flagged for the receiving agent.

When the shipment arrives at the destination (waypoint D), the receivingagent may already know that there has been an alarm, but will see thestatus indicator on the package and must decide whether the shipment canbe accepted or not according to rules established by the receiver.Similar issues may be faced if the internal temperature of the shipmentfalls too low.

Damage to produce, for example, may follow an Arrhenius Equation thatties freshness to temperature and time, with higher temperaturesresulting in wilting even after short times. Similarly, fish may becomerancid if exposed to low but unacceptable temperatures for longerperiods. Acceptance or rejection may be a black-and-white decision, butin some cases may require judgment based on experience and need for theshipment, resulting in an override of the flag.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of a tracking process for shipment ofperishable goods. Provisioning in this context means configuring thehardware unit to match the pertaining shipment that the hardware unit isattached to. So here are typical steps:

-   -   Carrier unpacks the cellular unit;    -   Carrier attaches the unit on the inside wall of the back of a        refrigerated truck; Carrier pushes the button to start the unit    -   For manual provisioning, carrier's agent would scan the barcode        of the cellular unit, then scan the shipping manifest. The        system will couple those two codes on the database so that later        an administrative host can track that shipment on the system.    -   For automated provisioning, the carrier's agent doesn't scan        anything. They just enter the details of the shipment like        normal, when the device leaves the shipping dock, the cloud        solution detects motion indicating that the device left. The        system registers the time, location, and heading, and predicts        the destination based on previously recorded or entered        information, so as to automatically couple the CID of the        cellular device to the SID of the shipment already in the        system.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views of two auto-provisioning schema forassociating shipment identifiers and cellular identifiers of thecellular data loggers. In the first view (FIG. 4A), time of departure ofthe shipment and directional information are used to infer the shipmentSID and the destination. The shipment with that SID is one on a list,but with simple clues, the system can determine that it is the shipmenton the move and where it is going.

In a second model (FIG. 4B), time of departure of the shipment (fromaccelerometry data) is matched to a truck manifest already in thecarrier's database. The cellular tracking device in motion is assumed tobe the device associated with the shipment designated to receive specialhandling and monitoring. However, also useful is a truck or trailernumber picked up by the transceiver of the cellular device from atransponder in the truck. From assigned routes listed by truck number,the system can infer a route, and the tracking device can be queried tomatch the expected route with the actual route. Given a match, thesystem assigns the package a SID from the truck manifest and associatesthe SID with the CID of the tracking device. Similarly, if a truck makesa left turn and the accelerometry data shows a counterclockwise motionof the tracking device, the system can associate the SID of the packagewith the CID of the tracking device, and then log environmental datafrom sensors on the tracking device with the corresponding package. Thuspossible correlations made by the system are not limited to time ofdeparture.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the device 50 (termed here a “tracking pod”)with triangular body and sensor isolation bridge. At the top of thedevice is a triangular cutout 51 that permits free circulation of air invent well 52 and isolates apex 58 from the main body of the device. Byisolating the sensor at the apex, parasitic thermal masses and heatsources in the tracking device are less likely to cause falsetemperature readings.

The device housing includes a control surface 57 with status indicatorLEDs 54 and 55, and a start button 53. The user interface is otherwise avirtual interface and is accessed through a cellular radio set havingthe needed software application installed. The status indicator is setup to illuminate in a green color when the device is activated, but toswitch to red if the device is in an alarm state because the shipmenthas been mishandled, such as by a damaging jolt in the case of shocksensitive items or by an unacceptable temperature swing in the case offoodstuffs.

Also shown in this view is a supplemental bar code 58 on the trackingdevice as may be used for system validation during trials andtroubleshooting in the event that the tracking device becomeselectronically unresponsive for whatever reason.

This cellular tracking device 60 includes a cellular transceiver, logiccircuitry and memory (not shown), a thermal isolation construct 61, astart switch, power LED, alarm LED, and also a sensor 61 at the apex,shown here in plan view (FIG. 6). The aperture 61 at the top definessensor isolation bridge elements on either side, so that the sensor isisolated from parasitic heat loads such as from the transceiver duringradio transmissions. For temperature, the sensor may be a thermistor ora thermocouple, for example. Moisture, pressure, and shock may also bemonitored.

The housing itself is designed to enclose a printed circuit board 70supporting the circuit shown in FIG. 7A, an internal schematic of theelectronics. The printed circuit board includes a cutout larger than butcorresponding to the isolation aperture 72 of the housing. A temperaturesensor 61 is mounted at the thermally isolated apex of the triangularbody. Also labelled are other logic circuit elements, a signalprocessing module, an encoder transceiver, a cellular antenna, RAMmemory, ROM memory containing processer-executable program instructions,a start switch, a speaker, a power LED, an alarm LED, and a coin battery65. Microprocessor MP executes an instruction set configured to collectand record data from the sensor(s) and to transmit and receivetransmissions to and from cellphone towers. These towers also providelocation information for the tracking device by a process oftriangulation known in the art.

Included on the PCB are memory, signal processing, encoding,transmission, reception and antenna devices, coin battery, anycombination of which may be integrated in a single chip or with themicroprocessor as desired. The microprocessor typically is provided witha combination sensor having tri-axis accelerometry, gyroscopes, acompass magnetometer, and the device may be equipped with a largerpackage of sensors as needed.

In some embodiments, the temperature sensor 61 detects or measures thetemperature and outputs a temperature signal that represents themeasured temperature to an A/D converter or encoder. The encoderconverts the analog temperature signal to a digital value. The encoderthen sends the digital value that represents the temperature to themicroprocessor, which stores the value to a memory as a chronologicalhistory of the shipment. Location of the temperature measurement mayalso be stored. Alternatively, the digital value may be sent directlyfrom the encoder to the memory. In yet other embodiments, the digitalvalue may be sent directly to a host via the cellular radio transceiver,using any of the accepted communications protocols for datatransmission. In still other embodiments, the temperature sensor mayoutput a digital temperature value to one or more of the microprocessor,memory device, and radio.

Furthermore, the encoder may also receive other analog signals, as fromother sensors, convert these signals to digital values, and send thesedigital values directly to the memory for storage or to the processor.In some instances, temperature and accelerometric signal originatingfrom a microprocessor with integrated sensor package may not require anencoder and may be suitable for direct transmission by the radio or forsignal analysis and reporting.

The device may include sufficient calculation power to evaluate signalsversus an acceptable range programmedly defined by an operator through auser interface and may be configured to go into alarm state in real timeif the shipment departs from the accepted range. In alarm state thestatus indicator shows a fault. More preferably, a warning signal may betransmitted before the threshold is crossed, and systems may be in placeto offer remediation or at least time to react.

However, in any alarm, the cloud host is configured to generate andtransmit the alarm state to the cellular device, and the statusindicator on the cellular device is operated under control of the cloudhost. It is the cloud that triggers the alarm state, generally asprogrammed by the operator of an automated administrative host.Flexibility at the level of the cloud host in establishing an alarmcondition is preferred to fixed logic in the cellular device becauseshipments of different kinds may differ in their handling requirements.Software is more flexibly administered and more readily updated. In someinstances, a shipping agent will review the data, which the system mayhave flagged and sent for real time review, before making a judgement totrigger an alarm.

Also shown here is a start switch for connecting the microprocessor to acoin battery, in which the coin battery is fitted in a cutout in thePCB. Connecting the battery to the microprocessor initiates the programand begins data logging and a call home that will assign the CID of thetransceiver to a shipment. Battery life is configured as needed fortypical applications that may involve data logging over a few hours to afew weeks. Not shown here are internal details of the housing, but thePCB is supported and is designed to be readily inserted inside thehousing before it is sealed, such as by ultrasonic welding. While it maybe necessary for example to expose a humidity sensor to the outsideenvironment, the PCB itself is generally sealed from ambient moisture.

FIG. 7B shows the general shape of the PCB 69 with sensor isolationbridge. Two cutouts are shown, one for the coin battery 74 and the other72 that splits the PCB into a base body and an isolated apex on which atemperature sensor 61 is mounted. Thus the PCB defines not only elementsof positive support for the circuitry, but also negative cutout elementsthat improve the intended function and make the device more compact.Also shown is a section cutline for detail illustrated in FIG. 7C, aswould appear if an AAA cell (77) were mounted by clips to the upper faceof the PCB.

FIG. 7C is a sectional view through a typical PCB. In this elevationview, final assembly is a simple process of inserting a AAA battery intothe contact clips above and below the PCB. The start switch isconfigured so that electrical leakage during storage is negligible butsupplies full power to the circuit and sensor is provided when the unitis activated. The temperature sensor 61 is connected to themicroprocessor by two traces as shown in FIG. 7A. An alternate sectionview of the electronics is shown in FIG. 7D. Here the battery 78 ismounted under the PCB and includes a battery cradle 79 that is moldedinto the device housing (not shown). Signal processing units (sometimestermed DSPs) are useful in digitizing sensor output and separatingmeaningful patterns from noise.

FIG. 8 is a schematic of steps of a method for operating a cellular datalogging system so as to monitor environmental conditions, location, andto automate data provisioning and goods acceptance (or rejection) by areceiver's agent.

-   -   ATTACH DEVICE TO DELIVERY CONTAINER OR TRUCK AND ACTUATE        “START”. VERIFY STATUS IS ON;    -   ON HOST SYSTEM, LOG SHIPMENT AS DEPARTING LOADING AREA;    -   DETECT AND CONFIRM MOTION OF DELIVERY VEHICLE AND TIME;    -   DETECT AND CONFIRM DIRECTION AND IDENTIFY DELIVERY ROUTE;    -   AUTO-PROVISION BY ASSOCIATING CELLULAR IDENTIFIER (CID) OF        DEVICE WITH SHIPMENT IDENTIFIER (SID) IN CARRIER'S DATABASE;    -   LOG TEMPERATURE AND TIME RECURSIVELY TO CREATE SHIPPING PROFILE;    -   LOG DIVERSIONS FROM REGULAR ROUTE;    -   TRACK ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME AND ALERT TO ANY DELAY IN DELIVERY;    -   UPON DELIVERY OR EN ROUTE, DISPLAY ALARM STATE IF TEMPERATURE        EXCURSION(S) ARE OUTSIDE ACCEPTABLE RANGE;    -   SEND REPORT IF POLLED, OR IF TEMPERATURE EXCURSION IMMINENT OR        OUT OF LIMITS;    -   UPON DELIVERY, PREPARE SUMMARY REPORT FOR DISPLAY, ANALYSIS AND        ACTION;    -   ASSIST RECEIVING AGENT TO HANDLE THE SHIPMENT PROPERLY AS PER        SPECIAL HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS;    -   IF REJECTED BY RECEIVING AGENT, PREPARE AUTOMATED CLAIM WITH        DOCUMENTATION AND NOTIFY SHIPPER AND SENDER.

All of the above actions with the exception of pressing the start switchand attaching the device to the package are performed without humanintervention, an advance in the art. Some steps are optional. Some stepsare performed by the cellular device, other steps are performed by theadministrative host, or the system operating as a whole. In a preferredembodiment, the system operates to generate an alarm condition based ondata received from the device, and to then trigger a local alarm displayor notification on the device itself. Local alarms typically would be alight or a buzzer of the status indicator package. Remote alarms may beconfigured by the system according to the needs of the user.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a use of the sensor isolation cutout toshelter a delicate speaker orifice from impacts and intrusions thatwould occur if the speaker were place on an exposed exterior surface ofthe cellular device. In this embodiment, a voice synthesizer and higherquality diaphragm and diaphragm driver are provided to simulate a femalevoice in the 300-400 Hz range. Thus the speaker can supply not onlyalarm beeps and whistles, but also detailed directions from either stockmemory on board or directly from a cloud host via the cellular link. Ina preferred embodiment, a two-way conversation can be conducted throughthe cellular device as disposable cell phone. Unlike the embodiments ofFIGS. 7C and 7D, here the battery is mounted in a slot at the edge ofthe PCB, as can speed assembly and stabilize the battery/boardinterconnect.

FIG. 10A is a view of an apical aspect of a cellular device withtriangular body and sensor mounted at an apex of the body where it canbe thermally isolated from heat generated by the radio andmicroprocessor. Advantageously, this also provides for a protectedopening for the speaker and serves to configure a sound box for thespeaker, as is well known to improve tonal quality and increase apparentvolume. A vent with internal walls extends from the top of the housingbody to the bottom and helps to equilibrate the sensor with surroundingair. The sensor may be a thermocouple, a thermistor, a resistancetemperature detector (RTD), or a temperature differential diode pair.

FIG. 10B is a schematic of the speaker driver circuit. Advantageously,an alert can be sounded on the speaker when the microprocessor detects afault condition, and also when the system host detects a faultcondition. Faults may be temperature deviations, environmentalconditions out of range more generally, deviations from expected routeor milestone in time. The system can “call home” to report trouble, forexample, and in some instances can prompt action that will averttrouble.

FIG. 11 describes steps in a method in which the innovation includes afirst advance in automation by providing for auto-provisioning (APro)and a second advance that provides for automated reporting (ERep) anddisposition of certain deviations, such as events that would requirethat an insurance claim be submitted while en route, updating thecustomer, and announcing pending arrival, and preparing documentation asto the shipment's condition on arrival. Elements of machine learning andartificial intelligence are developed and incorporated in thisschematic. In the flow diagram, the cellular tracking device is referredto as a “shipmate”.

In FIG. 12A, a sample run from Chicago to a destination in Seattle isshown as would be mapped on a screen 120 of a smart device. The solidlines represent land routes, including an extended cross-country truckroute; the dotted is air freight, and is diagrammed here as part of analternative air/truck combination route. Depending on the customer'sinstructions, the shipment could have gone by truck (solid line) or byair (dotted line). Temperature data is reported in a map view as shown.Either way, the cellular device will collect and log sensor data,providing evidence of conditions experienced by the shipment while intransit. The system monitors the sensor data and will analyze the dataduring transit or as the shipment approaches the destination (hereSeattle). If an alarm condition is detected, the system can actuate astatus indicator display on the tracking device (so that personsreceiving the shipment can see or hear it) and also can generate aremote alarm and send a link to the alarm condition to smart devicesinvolved in managing the shipment. A heatmap showing trends andwaypoints as specific markers can also be selected for display. Thelower table is summary data of shipping conditions during the trip andcan be updated as the drive progresses.

This user interface 121 also includes controls for selecting other dataand analyses, and for showing alerts if any. The interface can beinstalled on smart devices as an application, or can operate as abrowser driven graphical user interface.

A temperature profile over the duration of the trip is shown in FIG.12B. This is read from right-to-left (position-wise) on the map butleft-to-right (timewise) in the graph. The data log begins in Chicago ona Tuesday and ends on the Wednesday of the following week. It can beseen that about a week into the trip, a major failure 126 occurred inthe cooling system and results in temperatures rising to ambient—likelydamaging the goods. All this is digested by the system so that theneeded alerts and insurance paperwork is generated and ready when theshipment arrives at its destination. One can see that this system alsoworks without a driver, so that a driverless vehicle can be engaged withthe same result. With this kind of advance work done by the systemautomatically while the shipment is still on the road, the parties tothe shipment can arrange for a replacement shipment while the firsttruck is still enroute, and even turn the first truck around so as toreturn the spoiled materials to their point of origination or to asuitable waste disposal site.

In the first phase of any auto-provisioning process, the shipment needsto be associated with a “unique shipping identifier” that referencesbill of lading or manifest in a database. The cellular device has aunique identifier that need to be associated with the unique shippingidentifier. The process of crossing platforms so as to link a databaseentry (of the unique shipping identifier) in a first database and adatabase entry (of the cellular identifier and associated trip sensorlogging) in a second database is termed “auto-provisioning”.

The second phase is about data logging and reacting as the shipmentprogresses: it is about monitoring and management while in transit, andrequires that the device keep a record of waypoint, timepoint and sensordata, prepare reports when prompted or at regular intervals, alert ifthere are any deviations, and announce an arrival so that theappropriate receivers and staff are notified for any special handlingthat may be required on delivery, or at least that. The system may alsobe configured to accept and process commands while in transit, such asorders to divert to a new destination, to effect repairs, or to effectexpedited delivery by switching from truck to air, for example.

Interestingly, we see a series of small spikes 124 that occur along theway from Chicago to Seattle. These spikes are the defrost system kickingin and pose no problem for the carrier or the customer. This is actualdata of a trip monitored by a cellular tracking device in an 8 day tripby truck.

The final status report may be all good, and the system report will beclear. But if analysis shows that there are deviations from acceptablelimits, then there may be a need to file an insurance claim, and oncommand the system is able to prepare and process a claim. The claim maybe handled on-line with insurance partners. Filing a claim involvesassembling and formatting administrative data already in the system plusa record of the deviation in sensor output, and can be electronicallypresented to an insurer, saving large amounts of effort.

Analysis of sensor output faults is generally done on the cloud, systemcontrols also on the cloud but can be communicated to the device, suchas sensors to turn on, sample rates etc. If there is a temperaturespike, for instance, the actual alarm parameter may be different fromfrozen vs fresh goods. So the cloud determines the fault limit dependingon input from the shipper and customer. Similarly, operation at thecloud level ensures that alarm notification routing will be directed toa current and up to date list of carrier or customer representatives.

Control functions are processed on the dashboard and a command to thedevice will be triggered by the cloud or by an agent operating throughthe cloud. The cloud has much more information about the context andnature of the cargo. The device is always logging data, but the clouddecides if a threshold is crossed. That way the same device can be usedfor many different kinds of shipments and different thresholds withoutmodification to device. In some instances, an experienced operator'sjudgement may be needed, but with machine learning, the system willacquire the algorithms to make correct judgements.

FIG. 13A is a graphical concept of a set of slave sensor probes 132,each having short wave radio capability (typically bluetoothedradiobeacons), that can be distributed throughout a volume of ashipment, as suggested here on a pallet, and are set up to report theirsensor data to the wireless data logger 150, where in turn the data isbroadcast to a cellular network. The slaved probes are part of a localmesh network and includes the cellular data logger for the final uploadto a wide area network or to an Internet host.

More detail of a slave probe is shown in FIG. 13B. A use for measuringhumidity is suggested in FIG. 13C. Thus the systems are not exclusive tocold chain monitoring and may be used to monitor and log other sensorfeeds, such as sensors related to hazardous or dangerous materialsshipping.

FIG. 14 is an overview of a system method for monitoring and managingshipments. Here the cellular device is attached to a shipment andpowered up. It has a battery with enough power to make the trip. Whileenroute, the device will monitor and log an environmental condition andcan receive and log position and time with the sensor data, or positionmay be logged by the system. Logic is provided to run a simple decisiontree, here with three branches. In a first case (right leg), all isnormal and the system need only prepare an electronic report with anestimated time of arrival addressed to the appropriate receiver orreceiver's agent and copied to an administrative host and/or theshipper. At another extreme (left leg), an alarm condition isidentified, sensor data has deviated from an accepted range or crossed athreshold, and an outside limit protocol is triggered causing a localalarm when the shipment arrives (at a local level, the alarm will besilent until arrival and become audible when being unloaded). The systemhowever, will begin the process of notification of interested partieswell before the shipment reaches its destination. In a middle leg, thesystem has the power to detect sensor trends that spell impendingtrouble and to take preventative action, or at least to report theimpending deviation and to poll for a command to prevent damage bytaking corrective action. Thus the system unexpectedly provides morethan mere data logging, but instead is in intimate contact withinterested parties over a preferred cellular network, and can solicithelp if human intervention is needed, an advance in the art.

The above specification, examples, and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the composition of theinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, the inventionresides in the claims hereinafter appended.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

All of the U.S. Patents, U.S. Patent application publications, U.S.Patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications andnon-patent publications referred to in this specification and relatedfilings are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for allpurposes. U.S. Pat. RE36,200 is incorporated by reference for all thatis taught and provided as background.

SCOPE OF THE CLAIMS

The disclosure set forth herein of certain exemplary embodiments,including all text, drawings, annotations, and graphs, is sufficient toenable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention.Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents are possible, aswill readily occur to those skilled in the art in practice of theinvention. The inventions, examples, and embodiments described hereinare not limited to particularly exemplified materials, methods, and/orstructures and various changes may be made in the size, shape, type,number and arrangement of parts described herein. All embodiments,alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be combined to providefurther embodiments of the present invention without departing from thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

In general, in the following claims, the terms used in the writtendescription should not be construed to limit the claims to specificembodiments described herein for illustration, but should be construedto include all possible embodiments, both specific and generic, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.Accordingly, the claims are not limited in haec verba by the disclosure.

We claim:
 1. A method for cellularly monitoring a package duringshipment or for auto-provisioning a cellular device physicallyassociated with a package, which comprises: (a) providing a single-usecellular tracking device having a microprocessor, executableinstructions, memory and logic circuitry, a cellular transceiver andantenna, a sensor with sensor output, and a portable power supply; (b)affixing said cellular device on a package in need of tracking ormonitoring, and activating said microprocessor; (c) auto-provisioningsaid cellular device by associating a cellular unique identifier (CID)of said cellular device with a shipping unique identifier (SID) of asender's package to which said cellular device is affixed and logicallyderiving a delivery address from a carrier's database; (d) transportingsaid package from an origin to a destination, thereby executing a trip,wherein said trip is defined by a sequence of timepoints and waypoints;(e) while executing said trip, logging said sensor output, and if saidsensor output as stored in memory has deviated from an acceptable outputrange during said trip, wirelessly notifying a carrier or a local user;and, (f) delivering said package to said delivery address according tosaid auto-provisioning associated with said CID.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein said auto-provisioning process comprises a logical inferenceor inferences made from: i. location capture and correlation with adelivery schedule or route; ii. direction of motion capture andcorrelation with a delivery schedule or route; iii. time of departurecapture and correlation with a delivery schedule or route; iv. detectionof RF beacon hub in a shipping vehicle and correlation with a deliveryschedule or route; v. capture contextual data from said cellular device,wherein said contextual data is selected from location, direction ofmotion, and time of departure of a shipment; vi. correlate motion datafrom said cellular device with known delivery routes and schedules forshipments as known in a database accessible to a cloud host; vii.transport vehicle identification and correlation with a deliveryschedule or route; ix. in ranked ping auto-provisioning”, detection of acellular ping from a smart device of a driver or agent and correlatingan associated identifier of the driver or agent with a delivery scheduleor route according to pattern recognition; interpreting the driver oragent's behavior with respect to a shipment in order to associate theCID of a cellular device physically associated with a package with apackage SID; viii. identification of a shipment by optical scanning ofgoods and correlation with a shipping manifest; ix. directly piggybackauto-provisioning by reading an RFD identifier associated with a packageand looking up a delivery address or reading a delivery address fromdata encoded into a memory associated with said RFID microchip; ix.directly reading a QR identifier associated with a package and lookingup a delivery address from data encoded into a memory associated withsaid QR microchip; x. measuring a momentum or a weight of a package andlooking up a delivery address from a shipper's database; xi. pinging apackage with an acoustic or radiomagnetic pulse and detecting areflected pulse having a harmonic, a subharmonic, a supraharmonic, or apulse signature; and, xii. recording and cellularly transmitting anenvironmental sensor input and associating said input with a deliveryschedule or route according to a history of recordings of environmentalsensor inputs.
 3. The method of claim 2, which comprises coupling orlinking said CID of said cellular device with a unique shipmentidentifier SID of a package in a database accessible via a cellulartransmission, thereby auto-provisioning said cellular device as acellular tag associated with a specific package in shipment.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, comprising using said CID for tracking, monitoring,and managing said package.
 5. The method of claim 4, comprisingcompiling a shipping profile of a package and making said shippingprofile available on line.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein saidcellular device is configured to collect a defrost cycle signature andsaid system is capable of auto-provisioning said cellular device bycomparing said defrost cycle signature with a log of previously recordedsignatures.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said cellular device isconfigured to collect a compressor cycle signature and said system iscapable of auto-provisioning said cellular device by comparing saidcompressor cycle signature with a log of previously recorded signatures.8. The method of claim 1, wherein said cellular device is configured tocollect a noise signature, and said system is capable ofauto-provisioning said cellular device by comparing said noise signaturewith a log of previously recorded signatures.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein said noise signature includes any audio or radio noise orsignal.
 10. The method of claim 1, which comprises collecting sensoroutput data from a sensor or sensors remotely controllable through anetwork user interface.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said sensoroutput data is a temperature sensor data point or a stream of data andis reported as a data record or records having each a temperature, awaypoint, and a timepoint.
 12. The method of claim 11, which comprisespublishing a hypertext link to said data record or records andbroadcasting said link to a smart device.
 13. The method of claim 12,which comprises analyzing said data record or records and broadcastingan alert to a smart device if a sensor data point or stream of data isoutside of a specified limit.
 14. The method of claim 1, which comprisesdelivering said package to the delivery address; wherein a notificationis sent to a recipient at or about the time of arrival of said packageat the delivery address.
 15. The method of claim 1, which comprisesdelivering said package to the delivery address; wherein a recipient iswirelessly notified of any special instructions associated with saidpackage before arrival of said package.
 16. The method of claim 1, whichcomprises tracking said cellular tracking device using cellular meansand reporting a map display on a wireless device showing a location ofsaid package.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said map display showsa location of said package and a history of temperature sensor dataoutput by a temperature sensor associated with said cellular trackingdevice or from a bluetoothed temperature sensor embedded in saidpackage.
 18. An apparatus operative with a wireless sensor device, whichcomprises: a wireless sensor device comprising a generally triangularprinted circuit board having a cutout that divides said board into abase area and an apical area, wherein said cutout defines a connectivestrip that joins said base area and said apical area on a lateral edgeof said board, said strips each having a width configured to support anelectrical trace extending from said base area to said apical areathereof, and further wherein a temperature sensor is mounted on saidapical area in thermal isolation from said base area of said board and amicroprocessor, memory with instructions for operating saidmicroprocessor, wireless transceiver, antenna, supporting circuitry, andpower supply are mounted on said base area such that said temperaturesensor is thermally isolated from said base area.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein said temperature sensor is further thermally isolatedfrom said base area of said board by a housing that encloses said board,said housing having a top, a bottom, and walls that extend through saidcutout in said board from top to bottom, thereby defining a thermaldiffusion resistant channel extending from a base to an apical aspect ofsaid housing.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein a speaker is mountedin said channel, wherein said channel is configured to acousticallypropagate an acoustic alarm notification in vicinity of a package if asensor signal outputted from said temperature sensor to saidmicroprocessor deviates from an accepted limit or range.
 21. The systemof claim 20, wherein said microprocessor is connected to a systemnetwork by a cellular transceiver, and wherein said sensor signal outputis cellularly transmitted to a system administrator on said network,said system administrator having a function to evaluate said sensorsignal and command said alarm notification if said sensor signal outputdeviates from an accepted limit or range.
 22. The system of claim 18,wherein said instructions, when executed by said microprocessor, causesaid cellular transceiver to upload a shipping profile history of outputfrom said temperature sensor as a function of time and location to aremote server when a cellular “ping” is detected from a cellular tower,when a cellular tower detects a cellular ping from said cellulartransceiver and transmits an order to said cellular transceiver toupload said shipping profile history, or when a temperature sensoroutput threshold, either too cold or too hot, is crossed.
 23. The systemof claim 18, wherein said system is configured for auto-provisioninglocal grocery deliveries.